The work of Translators without Borders is of crucial importance for the success of humanitarian projects. Information available in the local language is much more effective than in a foreign language. This is true for engineering and construction projects (such as digging water wells), and agricultural projects (such as how to irrigate the land). But it is particularly important in healthcare. In many areas in the world people do not only die from diseases, but also from the fact that they do not have basic information about how to stay healthy and what to do to prevent disease.
If you are a translator and you are willing to donate your time and professional skills to Translators without Borders, you will directly support humanitarian projects. To join TWB, we ask you to fill in the translator application form.
Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers 2012 Report
"Our research shows that a mother's breast milk — one single nutrition intervention — can save a million children's lives each year,... All mothers should have the support they need to choose to breastfeed if they want to. Breastfeeding is good for babies no matter where they live, but in developing countries, especially those without access to clean water, breastfeeding can be a matter of life or death."
800 women still die every day. We know how to save them, and we can do more.
16 May 2012 - New maternal mortality estimates confirm that the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth is declining. Along with other indicators, this joint U.N. report validates the fact that we are making progress in saving mothers’ lives, even if progress is slower than what is called for by the Millennium Development Goals.
Rapid progress in some countries demonstrates that when governments take a strategic approach to the safe motherhood challenge -- by deploying trained midwives, ensuring adequate essential supplies, making family planning accessible and providing timely obstetric care to women with complications, we are getting results. Still, there is more work to be done in delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe.
The Atlas of Birth is a clear, accessible guide to the global picture of maternal health, told with maps, graphics and stories from many countries. It documents the biggest killer of young women in developing countries, and reveals one of the greatest opportunities of our time – to prevent the preventable – those maternal deaths that happen every single minute of every single day
The Atlas of Birth is raising maternal health on the agenda of policymakers around the world while fueling the popular movement for change. This global project includes the book (now in CD form, soon in print); the acclaimed short film Birth and Death - and a series of Atlas of Birth flyers created at key political moments to spark debate, media coverage, public engagement and political action.
The Atlas of Birth is a responsive, interactive project which invites your feedback as we build momentum towards the agreed international goal of reducing needless maternal deaths by three quarters before 2015. >> The Atlas of Birth Book (PDF)
Acting Now To Save The Future
The world knows that investing in the first five years of a child's life can break the cycle of poverty. And yet hundreds of millions of children around the globe are being denied basic care. This is their short film.
The White Ribbon Alliance is an international coalition which pushes for change to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for women and newborns around the world.
In some cultures, white symbolizes mourning and in others it symbolizes hope and life. As such, the white ribbon is dedicated to the memory of all women who have died needlessly in pregnancy and childbirth.
Since its launch in 1999, the White Ribbon Alliance – now a rapidly growing global movement with members in 148 countries – has been amplifying the voices of women and their communities, and is now a leader among those holding governments and institutions to account for the tragedy of maternal mortality.
Birth & Death
'Birth and Death' is a short graphic film which highlights the tragedy of maternal death around the world. Simple and moving but powerfully argued, the film exposes a scandal which has been going on for far too long; that women and girls around the world are dying needlessly, leaving millions of orphans and grieving families. The film calls on viewers to take action – and on world leaders to deliver on their promises – to end this global disgrace.
Every Mother Counts
Every Mother Counts is an advocacy and mobilization campaign to increase education and support for maternal and child health.
Every Mother Counts seeks to engage new audiences to better understand the challenges and the solutions while encouraging them to take action to improve the lives of girls and women worldwide.
In only one year, governments, foundations, UN and other multilateral organizations, NGOs, the business community, health care professional associations, and academic institutions have made unprecedented financial and political commitments to greatly improve the health of women and children.
The assessment of commitments came in the new PMNCH 2011 Report: Analysing Commitments to Advance the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. The new Report—along with many new commitments—were released at the Every Woman Every Child first-year anniversary high-level event held in New York. …”
Topics of analysis for this report include:
the number of stakeholders, from different constituency groups, who have made commitments to advance the Global Strategy;
the estimated value of the financial contributions made, including the extent of new and additional resources and projected government health spending on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) through 2015 in 16 low-income countries;
the focus and scope of policy and service- delivery commitments made to date, including the use of innovation to catalyse progress;
the geographic distribution of commitments, mapped against current progress on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 in low- and middle-income countries;
the alignment of commitments with idenitified gaps in human resources for health, the coverage of essential RMNCH interventions, and integration with other MDGs; and
the extent to which commitments relate to promoting human rights, equity and empowerment, addressing structural and political barriers that impede progress.
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